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Sculpture

SAIC's Sculpture department offers one of the largest, most comprehensive, and diverse programs of its kind in the country. The department is situated at the defining edge of contemporary practice and discourse, focusing its broad offerings through four curricular themes: Permanence and Ephemerality, Public Practice, Space and Place, and Systems.

Follow Sculpture

We practice sculpture at its broadest level of meaning. Twentieth-century art practice opened up the spaces and materials of sculpture to those of the "real world," and this breadth of vision and experience is reflected in the development of the curriculum and resources, which encompass every material imaginable, leading to the expression of ideas in space. We are committed on levels both international and deeply local to the development of an economically and culturally diverse context for the study of sculpture.

The Student Experience

The department offers a rigorous mix of conceptual, spatial, material, and process-based challenges through which students learn to understand, negotiate, and contribute to the changing cultural landscape. Educating thinkers as well as makers, our studio classes and seminars mix technical and material concerns with thematic and critical ones.

Students explore new media, emerging technologies, and installation in conjunction with traditional skills and media such as carving, welding, mold-making, and foundry work.

Renowned Faculty

Our distinguished faculty members are nationally and internationally renowned artists, fully involved in the exploration and re-examination of the field. They are well versed in contemporary theoretical debates and committed to building a diverse, exciting environment for the exchange of ideas and the production of culture and are engaged in the ongoing process of redefining the fluid field of sculpture through active practice.

Resources

We offer an extensive array of resources to support the development of experimental work in all media and encourage an active rethinking of sculpture by our students. The Knowledge Lab (KLab), for example, is a living laboratory with an innovative, green, and sustainable focus. We also sponsor visiting artist presentations and critiques and a weekly noon lecture and discussion series by both practicing artists and current graduate students.

Interdisciplinary Context

As contemporary practice moves fluidly across materials and methods, many courses at SAIC address the intersection between sculptural, performative, body, and material disciplines and explore their shared methods, materials, and critical/theoretical discourse. Students are encouraged to confer with faculty and graduate advisors to map a course of interdisciplinary study that reflects the latest developments in contemporary practices in these fields.

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For 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons, and LeRoy Neiman.